Since 2010, the European Union has investigated several antitrust complaints against Google alleging abuses of its dominant position in breach of the EU's competition laws.
In 2020, the European Union has also launched a full investigation of Google's proposed acquisition of the fitness tracker and wearable health company Fitbit, under the EU Merger Regulation.
[9] Google has denied the European Union's accusations against them and made a statement claiming "its services had helped the region's digital economy grow".
The appeal was based on six arguments, with two of them being that the court did not prove that Google favored its own shopping service by placing paid ads on top the search results.
[13] On 12 November 2020, 135 companies and 30 industry associations wrote an open letter to the EU Commission alleging that three years after the decision Google was still not complying and was moreover still favouring of its other specialised search services.
[15] On 10 November 2021, the General Court of the EU largely dismissed Google's appeal and upheld the fine of €2.42 billion imposed by the commission.
FairSearch was established in 2010 as a coalition of travel-related web companies including Expedia and TripAdvisor to try to fight against Google's proposed acquisition of ITA, which had developed airfare search software.
The EC stated that the company may have taken unlawful actions to maintain Google's dominant position in the mobile market by how it licensed its suite of Android applications.
[33] Furthermore, Google's hardware partners will be allowed to market devices in the EU that run rival versions of Android or other operating systems.
The Commission considered that this resulted in less choice for users in selecting advertising services and higher prices ultimately being passed on to consumers.
Fitbit is an American company active in the development, manufacturing and distribution of wearable devices (both smartwatches and fitness trackers) and connected scales in the health and wellness sector.
On 4 August 2020, the European Commission announced that it would be launching an in-depth investigation into Google's proposed acquisition of the fitness tracker and health platform, Fitbit, under the EU Merger Regulation.
The commission expressed its concern that the acquisition would further entrench Google's dominant position in the online advertising market, with the potential augmentation of user health and fitness data from Fitbit.
The transaction would therefore have raised barriers to entry and expansion for Google's competitors for these services to the detriment of advertisers, who would ultimately face higher prices and have less choice.
Second as regards access to Web Application Programming Interface (‘API') in the market for digital healthcare: A number of players in this market currently access health and fitness data provided by Fitbit through a Web API, in order to provide services to Fitbit users and obtain their data in return.
[citation needed] However, on 17 December 2020, the Commission eventually cleared the transaction, after Google accepted to significantly improve commitments proposed earlier, following the feedback received by market participants.
Second, Google will provide third parties access to the data types made available in the Fitbit Web API, subject to certain privacy and security requirements.
Because of Google's entrenched position in the market for online advertisement, the Commission may decide to extend the duration of the Ads Commitment by up to an additional ten years, having justified the necessity for such an extension.
To fulfil its duties, the trustee will have far-reaching competences, including access to Google's records, personnel, facilities or technical information.